Remembering The Poor & Needy

The photograph that you see above is of under-privileged children in Darjeeling, India who receive free education provided by the ministry of a very dear friend of mine Rev. Pastor Victor Moktan who is an example of a man truly living by faith as the word of God says in [Habakkuk 2:4]“The just shall live by faith”. To know more of his ministry and/or to support, visit http://vptm.org/

A little over 2 years ago, the Lord had spoken to me; He put in me a new desire in my heart. I have described in brief a little of this experience in one of my older posts “Delight In The Lord”. I hadn’t really reflected much about the way in which God had started working in me a long long time ago, even before I was born again. But only in the last 2 years have I noticed how amazing Daddy God is! He was after me all the time, gently trying to pull me towards Him, but it was my stubborn self who wasn’t really interested and I kept delaying to the extent that I kept God last in my life. Today as I look back I see that God had been so patient with me all the time. He has a very specific plan for me which He is leading me into. Now as I connect the dots, things seem to be falling in place and they are getting clearer and clearer for me. In my previous career I have had opportunities to be working overseas (specifically in the UK and in the US) for all my life, which I refused and wanted to be in India. Today I better understand these decisions of mine have come to fulfill a purpose that God has had for me and how it is working together for good to me [Romans 8:28].

When God placed the desire of teaching in my heart, He specifically instructed me that it was for reaching out the under-privileged. I surrendered this desire and my plans to Him and He led me to “Intermission Industrial Development Association (IIDA)” founded by Jochen and Johshy Tewes 40 years ago. Visit http://iida-india.org/for more information. This is an NGO established to help the under-privileged in vocational skills so that they can get jobs and stand on their own feet. Though IIDA’s main office and various branches function in the city of Chennai, I work in one of 2 branches in the city of Pune.

As I began working here, I realized the hardships that some people go through to just have bread on the table. I’ve had a few students who barely even get time to sleep and it’s a round the clock affair with work and if they manage a few hours of classes then they have to cut down their sleep time. Some women have nightmarish situations at home and are just glad to attend classes so that they are out of that atmosphere. My heart is moved with compassion for them and I want to see them rise out of their circumstances and be successful.

We’ve had some heart-warming success stories which remind me that God loves all of these people just like you and me and wants to do something for them and wants you and me to be available with our resources or time or anything that we can offer to Him. He will take it and multiply it just like the little boy’s 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish that fed a multitude of people [John 6:9-13]. The question is “Are we willing?” After having responded to God’s call, I feel a deep satisfaction in the purpose of my life. A peace that truly originates from Christ Jesus and a joy that no one can take away. I would certainly recommend following His plans because they are definitely much better than what we can even think or imagine. Stay blessed!

Some of our students on a company trip

[James 1:27 – NIV] “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

[Galatians 2:10 – NIV]“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.”

[Psalms 9:18 – NIV]“But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.”